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We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

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Re: We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

#251

Post by el_cujo »

blang wrote: post #88

I'm actually worried that podcasts are going the way of the web. What, for a while, was a weird world of enthusiasts talking about things that interests them seems to be morphing into a world of a few big corporate entities calling the shots. I have two reasons for these worries. 1) The purchase of Gimlet by Spotify mentioned in the article. 2) The purchase of Stuff Media by iHeart. The purchase of Gimlet is problema…

>I'm actually worried that podcasts are going the way of the web. What, for a while, was a weird world of enthusiasts talking about things that interests them seems to be morphing into a world of a few big corporate entities calling the shots.

I think podcasting is somewhat shielded from this by the fact that you really don't need an insane amount of capital to put out a good product. There definitely are podcasts that have expensive, professional studio set ups, but there are others I've listened to that are just straight up recorded on an iPhone and they can actually sound very decent. This low barrier of entry makes it easy for people to make their own weird podcast without having to water down their product and pitch it to investors. I guess with time that could change if your podcast is considered dead if its not on one of these big corporate channels. As someone who really enjoys the "homemade" feels, I hope this never happens, a podcast feeling overproduced is a big turn off IMO.

Re: We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

#252

Post by tnecniv »

b3b0p wrote: post #201

I feel, at least for me, the golden age of podcasts is over already. There was the early [0] Retronauts the new Patreon/Kickstarter version is only same in name. Then there was the [1] 1up Yours. All the hosts, co-hosts, and popular regular guests have moved on. Then there was the epic [2] A Life Well Wasted by Robert Ashley. This is absolutely superb. The only podcasts of similar I listen to now are Giant Bombcast a…

At least GB puts out so much content I don't have time for another podcast...

Re: We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

#253

Post by avinium »

Mister_Snuggles wrote: post #24

Personally, I'm not a fan of podcasts at all. I've tried, and listened to some interesting ones, but in the end I'd much rather consume the same content by reading instead of listening. It's faster, it's easier to skim and skip around, you can have hyperlinks to other references, etc. Overall, text just works better for the kinds of content I'm interested in. There's a podcast related to a product I work with that I'…

I'm generally in the same boat as you (I even read my Kindle as I walk to work), with one exception - cleaning the house.

My hands are occupied so I can't hold anything, and it's completely brainless work so I'm free to focus.

I pop in a foreign language podcast and suddenly the time flies by.

Re: We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

#254

Post by cpmsmith »

asnrk wrote: post #223
ryandrake wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are there any studies on how good retention is when consuming books as a background task while you're doing something else? Sample size = 1, but I briefly tried listening to audio books while driving, cooking, etc. but stopped when I realized I got all the way through a few books without even vaguely remembering what they were about.

Yeah IDK if I'm just way worse at focusing on spoken words while doing other things than most people or what, but I can't get into podcasts or audio books at all. If I do other things while listening I miss so much that I have no idea what's going on, and even the supposedly very good ones are so dull that if I'm going to spend focused time consuming them I'd rather read, or watch something, or listen closely to some…

I've found it extremely dependent on fine differences in the primary thing I'm doing. e.g. I have no problem following if I'm going on an uneventful or familiar drive, but will automatically tune it out if I don't know where I'm going.

Re: We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

#255

Post by weaksauce »

intrasight wrote: post #106
blang wrote: post #88

I'm actually worried that podcasts are going the way of the web. What, for a while, was a weird world of enthusiasts talking about things that interests them seems to be morphing into a world of a few big corporate entities calling the shots. I have two reasons for these worries. 1) The purchase of Gimlet by Spotify mentioned in the article. 2) The purchase of Stuff Media by iHeart. The purchase of Gimlet is problema…

I tried some Gimlet podcasts but didn't find any of consistent quality. For me "consistent quality" means I'm willing to binge-listen every episode and in order.

Bagman and slow burn were good if you are into historical political scandals. Covered watergate, Clinton impeachment and Nixon’s vp spirew Agnew.

Re: We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

#256

Post by InitialLastName »

schnevets wrote: post #102
emerongi wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure what you are even exactly complaining about. Is it the UI? I agree that most podcast players just lack features. They're built for "dummies": you can subscribe and click play, that's mostly it. I'm a power-user. Podcast Addict on Android is the best player I have used, it has a ton of features and extreme customizability. Still, I am now using PocketCasts which is inferior by a wide margin, but it has sync c…

Simply put, it's a UI issue that affects every aspect of the business. Podcasts have an artificially diminished shelf-life. If you don't release an episode every two weeks, your show gets buried in the library. It means the format is synonymous with churned, radio broadcast-like content. This has also affected the monetization model. Most ads use promo codes for services, but those promos expire and change, rendering…

> If you don't release an episode every two weeks, your show gets buried in the library.

S-Town released all its episodes almost 2 years ago, and Pocket Casts still has it at #23.

Re: We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

#257

Post by skiw »

Mister_Snuggles wrote: post #24

Personally, I'm not a fan of podcasts at all. I've tried, and listened to some interesting ones, but in the end I'd much rather consume the same content by reading instead of listening. It's faster, it's easier to skim and skip around, you can have hyperlinks to other references, etc. Overall, text just works better for the kinds of content I'm interested in. There's a podcast related to a product I work with that I'…

As many others have said, podcasts are definitely necessary over text when doing things you can't read during (driving, exercising, etc.)

Additionally, I enjoy podcasts for the personalities. This varies with the podcast, as some podcasts consist of generally the same content as something like a blog post, with a generic narrator reading from a script. However, most popular podcasts are popular not just for the content, but the conversations between the personalities.

e.g. I can read Bill Simmons' sports columns (which have their own merits) and get much of the same content, but I can't laugh along with him and one of his pals or a pro athlete tossing out an impromptu joke in one of his columns: only on his podcast.

Re: We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

#258

Post by bootlooped »

blang wrote: post #88

I'm actually worried that podcasts are going the way of the web. What, for a while, was a weird world of enthusiasts talking about things that interests them seems to be morphing into a world of a few big corporate entities calling the shots. I have two reasons for these worries. 1) The purchase of Gimlet by Spotify mentioned in the article. 2) The purchase of Stuff Media by iHeart. The purchase of Gimlet is problema…

Anecdotally, I have noticed an increase in advertisements in the podcasts I listen to. I think this is more likely a sign of decline than a sign of the opposite.

Re: We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

#259

Post by celeritascelery »

el_cujo wrote: post #251
blang wrote: post #88

I'm actually worried that podcasts are going the way of the web. What, for a while, was a weird world of enthusiasts talking about things that interests them seems to be morphing into a world of a few big corporate entities calling the shots. I have two reasons for these worries. 1) The purchase of Gimlet by Spotify mentioned in the article. 2) The purchase of Stuff Media by iHeart. The purchase of Gimlet is problema…

>I'm actually worried that podcasts are going the way of the web. What, for a while, was a weird world of enthusiasts talking about things that interests them seems to be morphing into a world of a few big corporate entities calling the shots. I think podcasting is somewhat shielded from this by the fact that you really don't need an insane amount of capital to put out a good product. There definitely are podcasts th…

> I think podcasting is somewhat shielded from this by the fact that you really don't need an insane amount of capital to put out a good product.

You could say the same thing about the web

Re: We're Entering a Golden Age of Podcasts

#260

Post by _emacsomancer_ »

bootlooped wrote: post #258
blang wrote: post #88

I'm actually worried that podcasts are going the way of the web. What, for a while, was a weird world of enthusiasts talking about things that interests them seems to be morphing into a world of a few big corporate entities calling the shots. I have two reasons for these worries. 1) The purchase of Gimlet by Spotify mentioned in the article. 2) The purchase of Stuff Media by iHeart. The purchase of Gimlet is problema…

Anecdotally, I have noticed an increase in advertisements in the podcasts I listen to. I think this is more likely a sign of decline than a sign of the opposite.

Could it be instead a sign of increasing profitability of podcasts? (That advertisers are willing to pay for ads on podcasts.)
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